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Originally Posted by RED BARON RETURNS
What are the chances of 425/17 and 477/17 being the same plane in the photo's ?
JP
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There is no chance of them being the same plane but if you want to discover which of the two the photos show then I believe that to do this you need to weigh-up the evidence for and against.
The case for 477/17 is entirely based on Dan-San's theory that the photographer would have photographed the aircraft on which MvR had scored the previous 10 victories. This theory ignores the possibility of MvR's other aircraft being present and it ignores that fact that 477/17 was photographed at LeChelle if the identification is correct.
Before I move to the case for that all red triplane being 425/17 I would like readers to consider which aircraft they would find the more photogenic, a striking all red example or a partly red partly standard camouflage one with a history?
The case for 425/17 starts with MvR's combat reports and their description of the individual aircraft he flew.
The liklihood supported by conclusive evidence that 425/17 was delivered in a personalised state from the factory, in either CDL on its upper-surfaces or red and either way with normal stencilling and the case that this then presents that the aircraft would have been with MvR in plenty of time to have been at LeChelle.
Ed Ferco's observation of the military number 425/17 on the fuselage which he claimed is visible when viewing the negatives of one of the photos.
We know that at one stage 425/17 was painted in the same fashion - with the possible but unlikely exception of its rudder - as the aircraft in the LeChelle photos.
The photo purported to be of 477/17 by Alex Imrie and recently confirmed by Taz has the correct works number on its top wing. This photo originally came from a contemporary German photo album and has the caption "
Manfred von Richthofen's triplane" (see von Richthofen's Flying Circus by Greg VanWyngarden page 56) and is painted in a similar style to its description in the combat reports. This aircraft was not all red and had its crosses modified to the Balken type whilst still fielding its normal streaky camouflage around its fuselage national insignia.
I'm sure there is more evidence for either case but this is my precise